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Dragonsblood [Secure eReader (recommended)/Mobipocket/Microsoft Reader/Adobe Reader 7]
eBook by Todd McCaffrey
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eBook Category: Science Fiction/Science Fiction
eBook Description:  In Dragon's Kin, bestselling author Anne McCaffrey did the unthinkable: for the first time ever, she invited another writer to join her in the skies of her most famous fictional creation. That writer was her son, Todd McCaffrey. Together, they penned a triumphant new chapter in the annals of the extraordinarily popular Dragonriders of Pern. Now, for the first time, Todd McCaffrey flies alone. And Dragonsblood is proof that the future of Pern is in good hands. After all, dragons are in his blood.... Never in the dramatic history of Pern has there been a more dire emergency than that which faces the young dragonrider Lorana. A mysterious fatal illness is striking dragons. The epidemic is spreading like wildfire ... and the next deadly cycle of Threadfall is only days away. Somehow, Lorana must find a cure before the dragons--including her own beloved Arith--succumb to the sickness, leaving Pern undefended. The lyrics of an all-but-forgotten song seem to point toward an answer from nearly five hundred years in the past, when Kitti Ping and her daughter Wind Blossom bred the first dragons from their smaller cousins, the fire-lizards. No doubt the first colonists possessed the advanced technology to find the cure for which Lorana seeks, but over the centuries, that knowledge has been lost. Or has it? For in the distant past, an aged Wind Blossom worries that the germs that affect the fire-lizards may one day turn on larger prey--and unleash a plague that will destroy the dragons, Pern's only defenders against Thread. But as her people struggle to survive, Wind Blossom has neither the time nor the resources to expend on a future that may never arrive--until suddenly she uncovers evidence that her worst fears will come true. Now two brave women, separated by hundreds of years but joined by bonds transcending time, will become unknowing allies in a desperate race against sickness and Threadfall, with nothing less than the survival of all life on Pern at stake.
eBook Publisher: Random House, Inc./Random House Publishing Group
Fictionwise Release Date: January 2005
This eBook is part of the following series:
Available eBook Formats [Secure eReader (recommended)/Mobipocket/Microsoft Reader/Adobe Reader 7 - What's this?]: SECURE MOBIPOCKET FORMAT (768 KB], SECURE MICROSOFT READER FORMAT (509 KB] - Requires Microsoft Reader 2.1.1 for PCs, or Microsoft Reader 2.2.2 on Pocket PC 2002 handheld devices. Some older Pocket PCs can be upgraded. Learn More., SECURE EREADER (RECOMMENDED) FORMAT (481 KB], SECURE ADOBE READER 7 FORMAT (1.4 MB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [733 KB]
Secure Adobe Reader 7: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
Microsoft Reader ISBN, Adobe Acrobat Reader ISBN, MobiPocket Reader ISBN: 9780345481931
eReader (recommended) ISBN: 0345481933
 
"Todd McCaffrey does something I didn’t think anyone could do; he writes Anne McCaffrey’s Pern. Not just a novel set in Pern, but Pern. The people, the places, the characters and challenges. This is Pern, in the hands of a new master-grade Harper, carefully trained in the old traditions, but scoring his own ballads. May the saga continue!" -- DAVID WEBER, New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow of Saganami
"Dragonsblood is a strong, lively story, with vivid, interesting characters and plenty of exciting action. Todd has captured the tone as well as the familiar settings of the Pern books. Pern fans (and newcomers to the Pern universe) have reason to rejoice." -- winning author of Marque and Reprisal "For Pern lovers, the good news is that Todd McCaffrey has inherited his mother’s storytelling ability. His dragons and firelizards, his harpers in Harper’s Hall, carry on the great traditions–and add much to them. Huzzah, Todd! You have learned wisdom indeed." -- JANE YOLEN, award-winning author of Briar Rose "Dragonsblood is cause for celebration! A worthy addition to one of the grandest traditions in the literature of the fantastic, this is a lock-the-door, take-the-phone-off-the-hook, send-the-kids-out-to-play, curl-up-and-enjoy adventure!" -- DAVID GERROLD, author of Blood and Fire "The torch has been passed and burns more brightly than ever in this latest chapter of the venerable Pern saga, the first of what one hopes will be many solo efforts by the son of series creator Anne McCaffrey. . . . This stand-alone tale fits beautifully into the existing history and style of earlier books while still breaking new ground." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review) "McCaffrey convincingly spins a dramatic, thoroughly captivating tale, steeped in the lore and well-drawn characterizations of the people and the dragons for which the Pern novels are prized. Fans old and new will be delighted by his continuance of a beloved saga." -- Booklist
ONE Red Star at night:
Firestone, dig,
Harness, rig,
Dragons take flight.
Fort Weyr, at the end of the Second Interval, After Landing (AL) 507 Four men stood in a knot around the Star Stones of Fort Weyr. The sun was just above the horizon, casting the harsh shadows of early dawn at winter's end. Each man wore the prestigious shoulder knots of Weyrleader. Their warm wher-hide jackets proclaimed them the leaders of Benden, Fort, Telgar, and Ista Weyrs. K'lior, Fort's Weyrleader, was host and the youngest present. He was also the newest Weyrleader, having gained his position less than a Turn before. He glanced back to the Star Stones—to the Eye Rock, which bracketed the Finger Rock, which itself was lit by the baleful Red Star. Thread was coming. Soon. The air was made more chilly by the steady breeze blowing across the plateau where Fort's Star Stones were placed. K'lior suppressed a shiver. "Fort is still wing light. We've only had the one clutch—" "There's time yet, K'lior," C'rion, Ista's Weyrleader, judged. He pointed at the Red Star and the Eye Rock. "Thread won't fall until after the last frost." "There's no doubt, then, that Thread is coming," K'lior said, wishing the other Weyrleaders would disagree with him. For over two hundred Turns, the planet of Pern had been free of the threat of Thread falling from the sky. Now that peace would end. The Red Star's return would bring the Thread that would try, once more, to devour all life on Pern. For the next fifty Turns, the dragons would rise to the skies, flame Thread into lifeless char, or, failing, watch in horror as it burrowed into the rich soil of Pern to destroy all organic material with mindless voracity. "Telgar's ready, K'lior," D'gan declared. He turned back from the Star Stones and the dawning light to gaze at the others, who were obscured by the sharp shadows of the early morning light. His words were firmly emphasized by the distant rumbling of his bronze, Kaloth. "My wings are at full strength and I've two clutches on the Hatching Grounds—" One of the other Weyrleaders cleared his throat loudly, but D'gan's fierce glare could not pierce the shadows to identify the culprit. "Yes, we were lucky," he continued in answer to the unknown heckler, "but the fact remains that Telgar will be wing heavy when Thread falls. And our holders have tithed fully so we've no lack of equipment or firestone." K'lior shifted uneasily, for he had been frank in relaying his difficulties in getting Fort's full tithe. "But you don't agree to pooling resources?" he asked again. He had called this meeting of the Weyrleaders to propose just that. As none of them had ever fought Thread, K'lior felt that his notion of "fly together, learn together" had merit, and would promote communication among the Weyrs. He was shocked when D'vin of High Reaches had refused the invitation and was even further shocked by D'gan's attitude. Telgar's Weyrleader was Igen-bred, after all. K'lior had hoped that D'gan's experience would have made him more amenable to working together, not less. D'gan favored the wiry Fort Weyrleader with a superior look. "If you're still wing light when Thread falls, K'lior, I'm sure I could spare some of my own." "I'll bet they're all bronzes," a voice muttered dryly. It came from the direction of the Benden and Istan Weyrleaders. The implication that D'gan might want to reduce the competition for Telgar's next mating flight was obvious. Not that D'gan's Kaloth had to fly all Telgar's queen dragons to remain Weyrleader—just the senior queen. D'gan stiffened angrily at the remark, turned to K'lior, and said, "I've a Weyr to attend, Fort. I must return." "Let me call someone to guide your way, D'gan," K'lior offered pleasantly, worried about slippery walkways under unfamiliar feet. The offer annoyed D'gan, who snapped, "I can find my own dragon well enough, Fort." Copyright © 2005 by Todd McCaffrey and Anne McCaffrey
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